Warming up with some Butterbeer} Open

Molly had changed her clothing in the girl's changing room at the Quidditch Pitch. She hadn't had much in her locker, just a pair of clothes she tends to wear during practice. She was dressed in an old Wicked Sisters tee-shirt that was ripped up in a few places (a few holes in the front that showed off her belly button, and a rip about a couple inches up the side and small tears on the short sleeves. All of which had happened during Quidditch practice at one time or another). She had a pair of black shorts that reached her mid thigh that were pretty worn out.

Molly groaned, putting her long, damp hair up into a high ponytail - she noticed that it was starting to curl as it often did when it was wet. She wasn't quite pleased with what she was dressed in, but it was better than her soaked clothes. She couldn't help but think that she should definitely keep a good pair of clothes in her locker for occasions such as these instead of just her practice clothes.

Molly had shoved her wet clothes into a bag along with her soaked sneakers and socks, and left them in her locker next to her broom; she'd grab them tomorrow morning before classes started; she didn't feel like lugging them around at the moment. Molly braced the chill of castle, rubbing her arms up and down. She really wanted a warm butterbeer or hot chocolate. Something comforting and tasty. So, she made her way towards the kitchens, her barefeet hardly making a sound on the stone floor.

The castle seemed pretty empty, which she was glad for as she looked less than presentable. She peeked around corners, double checking before she finally made her way down into the kitchens.

"Missus Starkey, hello," one of the house elves greeted with a smile. You could say she visited the kitchens very often to grab snacks - usually to sneak them back into the common room or her dorm room.

"Hey Abra, how're you?" She questioned with a smile, taking a seat. The house elf continued to smile widely, bouncing over to her.

"Abra is good, missus. Is there anything Abra can get you?" She questioned, blinking her rather large purple eyes.

"Do you have some butterbeer you could warm up?" Moll questioned, leaning forward against the table. Abra nodded enthusiastically; she was always a perky little thing.

"Yes, Abra can get Missus Starkey that," she told her before bounding off to warm some up for her. Molly let out a small sigh and rested her head against the table. She was still somewhat damp from being in the rain for a little while and the chill from the castle wasn't helping. She couldn't wait for the butterbeer.

After spending most of the afternoon studying for classes, Tony felt cramped up and hungry. Usually he would pull out his guitar or trumpet or anything, really, and use it to relax. But seeing as his usual practice sessions always seemed to go an hour long than he'd intended, he decided not to. Classes first, music later.

However, he pulled on a jumper and padded down the steps from his room to the Hufflepuff common room, his socks softening his movement. A nip of food was exactly what he needed to re-focus and try to study potions more. He could get the practical application of potions--following directions was easy--but he never had the memory for the names or what the different ingredients were used for.

The entrance to the Kitchens wasn't far from the common room and Tony was soon tickling the pear to gain entrance. As he stepped in, a house elf rushed to his side, eyes large and twinkling. "Mister Rogers, is there anything Pokey can do for you?" she pipped immediately.

House elves were always good at remembering names and it would have made Tony feel bad if they weren't so good at repeating their own names as well. "Just a snack, Pokey." Which meant a plate of cheese and crackers as far as Tony was concerned, though Pokey was sure to come back with bread and potatoes and sausages or something. He considered correcting himself, but the house elf was already scurrying off and he didn't like shouting. Instead he moved to sit down, only pausing when he realized another student was already seated and waiting for food.

"Oh," he murmured, face shooting red with embarrassment. He needed to work on that.

Molly's head shot up instantly when she heard someone else enter the kitchen. Well, wasn't this just great? She looked like utter crap and now someone was going to see her like that. She exhaled a small sigh before looking closer to see who it was. It was one of the older Hufflepuffs, Tony if she could remember correctly - she was honestly bad at names. At least he looked decently dressed, warm looking jumper and all.

Molly put on a smile, as she often did, and rested her chin in her hands. "Oh, well hello there," she greeted kindly, though wondered somewhere in the back of her mind if she'd ever get some peace and quiet around here - first she runs into Fionn at the Quidditch Pitch and now Tony in the kitchens? She'd really have to find somewhere secluded next time if she ever wanted to clear her head. "Tony, right? The quiet one?" She questioned, quirking one of her eyebrows up as she did so. She didn't often understand quiet people; she was always quite loud and didn't care if it annoyed people... to much, anyway... depended on who the person was.

"Here you go Missus Starkey," Abra came back, holding a very large mug of pipping hot butterbeer. Molly's grin widened greatly and she took the mug off of the small house elf's hands. Just holding it warmed her up. "Would you like anything else tonight?"

"Oh no, that should be all. Thank you Abra," she smiled, pulling the mug close to her simply to inhale the warmth. As Abra bounced away, Molly's blue eyes rose back to the hufflepuff standing before her. "You know, Silence, you can sit down, right? It's not like I'm going to bite or anything... too hard," she teased, throwing him a toothy grin.

"Right," Tony murmured at her jibe.

Starkey. She was one of the loud Quidditch players he usually made a point of avoiding. (What Quidditch player wasn't loud?) Gryffindor. A chaser, maybe? He never did pay much attention to the other players. His focus was usually diverted by Billy flying about looking like he would fall out of the sky any second.

He took a seat at the table, a couple spots down from the girl. Not enough to be impolite, but just to put some distance between the two of them.

As he sat, Pokey returned--as expected--with a plate full of potatoes and peas with a few slices of ham on the side. A proper supper, though he wasn't quite that hunger. He also got his own tumbler of butterbeer, which he had to admit he'd envied the moment he'd seen Starkey with hers. "Thanks, Pokey."

The house elf nodded and was off in a flash to help the others with their dishes and cookings and whatnot. Tony took a quick sip of the butterbeer and waited for it to warm his insides before steeling his nerves and turning to the Gryffindor. "You're, ah, you're a Quidditch player, yes?"

Molly watched in amusement as Tony sat a few seats away from here. She bit back the laughter that had bubbled into her throat and covered it by taking a small sip of her warm butterbeer. She placed the mug down on the table and wiped the foam mustache off of her upper lip. She leaned back slightly, stretching out her still sore body. Her eyes hardly let the young man as another house elf, Pokey, brought him a plate full of food.

"Yup. Chaser for the Gryffindor Team," Molly grinned before ducking her head to the side slightly. "Well, that is if I make the team again this year. I mean, I don't doubt myself or anything, but we've got a lot of talented Gryffindor players..." and what with my current injuries, I can only hope to continue. she added in thought. She glanced down at her butterbeer for a moment before bringing it back to her mouth and taking a longer sip.

"Molly, by the way," she told him, in case he hadn't known her first name. "Or Moll, whichever suits your liking." She shrugged, grinning once more. No matter her mood, she was always seen grinning around other people. It was hard for her to show any other types of emotion to others, except anger. Man, did she have a temper.

"You're, uh, friends with one of the Huffer Quidditch players, aren't you?" She questioned. She had seen him once or twice with another guy from the team - who's name completely escaped her now... was it Wilson? Moll tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, not even trying to tame the lion's mane she had forming as it slowly became tangled together while up in the ponytail.

Tony hummed an almost silent, "I'm sure you will" when she mentioned the team. He was so used to encouraging Billy it seemed only natural. Although Molly did rather remind him of Billy. At least in the grinning and the Quidditch. Did she ever not smile? It must have been infectious because he found a soft smile playing across his lips as she spoke.

"Nice to meet you," he replied, tacking on, "Rogers. Tony Rogers," as an afterthought. She clearly knew his name, she'd mentioned it earlier. Still, it felt odd not to introduce himself as well. Social etiquette was not his strong suit. "Molly's a nice name," he murmured, trying to commit it to memory. Thankfully she was the sort of person who looked like a Molly. That helped.

Tony's soft smile turned into a bashful grin and he turned to his potatoes, scooping up a spoonful to avoid the question for a moment. Once he swallowed them, he turned and nodded, ears still a bit pink, but smiling nonetheless. "Billy," he supplied, as if he could read the mistake as she thought it. "We've been dating a year or so. He's--he's good," Tony murmured, a private smile still flush across his cheeks.

A whole year and still the mention of William could make him flush this bad. It was a nice feeling.

After a moment he coughed, realizing he'd gotten a bit caught up thinking about Billy. "So, ahm...do you have anyone? You know, I mean," he paused, gesturing. He wasn't even sure which way she swung. Or if she swung at all. "--anyone?"

When Molly saw the small smile form on Tony's lips, she couldn't help but think Mission accomplished! She always did enjoy making others smile. She always wanted others to be happy, whether she was truly happy on the inside or not. She wasn't even sure why she was like this, it was just who she was.

"Tony Rogers, got it... though don't expect me to call you that. I hardly call people by their names." Molly gave him a small shrug. It was true, that was just who she was. She didn't know Tony well enough to give him a proper nickname yet, and had only since dubbed him Silence... which she thought was lame. She'd have to change that later. "Aw, thank you, I quite like it." Molly grinned as he said her name was nice. Some people didn't like the name they were given, but Molly quiet liked hers. A lot actually.

"Billy, huh?" She let the name roll off of her tongue. A grin began to take form on her mouth once more as she noticed his cheeks flush. She leaned forward, her arms resting on the table and her bottom barely on the chair. "Oh, your boyfriend huh? Well, isn't that adorable." She wasn't simply teasing him, though she did take that tone of voice, but she did think it was cute. Meh, everyone seems to have someone... don't they? she added silently to herself as an afterthought.

Oh, a nickname person. Well, Tony couldn't really say he minded until he heard the nickname, but he couldn't imagine one he would like. He'd been called "Ton-Ton" enough as a kid and he certainly wasn't keen to bring that one back. And there were a few more even worse that he'd had to deal with growing up. No, he wasn't a nicknames sort of person, but nodded nonetheless. She didn't seem like the sort of person to go about calling him a "fag head" or "bastard boy" at least.

Tony grinned. Billy was adorable. And loud and cheerful and always full of energy. Billy was perfect, though a bit of a thrill seeker, which left Tony with more than his fair share of worry.

His smile faltered as he noticed Molly didn't mention anyone. Which seemed odd as she appeared to be nice enough. "So you don't have anyone?" he asked when she seemed to frown. "I mean, that's not bad either of course."

Molly studied him for a moment as she brought her mug to her lips once more. The butterbeer was definitely helping warm her up and she was very glad for that. At least she wasn't cold anymore... she now just had to worry about her appearance. Really, did many people even wear Wicked Sisters tee-shirts anymore? She had bought it had a vintage store a long time ago and after a while decided to deem it practice clothes worthy.

Molly chuckled when he grinned. It was cute, endearing really. Maybe she should call him Lovebird or something since he seemed quite obviously infatuated. No, she'd hold off for a little while longer until something better came along. By the end of the night, though, she vowed to have a nickname for him.

Molly blinked, before giving him a small smile. "Nope, just me, in all my big headed glory," She threw her arms out dramatically. No, she couldn't quite complain. She had wonderful friends who she loved dearly. It was just... perhaps one of these days she'd enjoy something a little more romantic.

Tony scrapped at his plate of food, scooping up the last of the peas. He hadn't wanted the food when he first came down, but once he'd finished it, he realized how hungry he'd actually been. Using a slice of the ham, he mopped up some of the potatoes and shoved the mess into his mouth. House elves were certainly clever little things.

"Big-headed glory?" he repeated once the food was down his throat. She certainly didn't seem big-headed. She was sitting about in ratty t-shirt and plain old pair of shorts. Obviously she wasn't throwing herself over backwards to look like prom queen every day. "Mm, well I'm sure someone will come along. You are very nice." True, they hadn't known each other long, but she seemed nice enough. It certainly wasn't a lie.

"You're not stuck in unrequited love, are you?" That was always worse. Not much you can do once you get stuck there, pining away after someone who will probably never care for you the same way. Tony took a quick swig of butterbeer and the cold front threatening to settle in his stomach ebbed away.

"Mmhm," Molly nodded, smiling. Her conversation with Fionn was still on her mind, and the common joke was always her cockiness and her slight big-headedness. It wasn't as if she really did have a big head; she just acted like she did most of the time. She was always so dramatic anyways. She then stared at him for a moment before erupting into laughter. "You really haven't known me for too long, it's obvious. Just wait a day or so and I'll prove to be incredibly annoying and pushy and my big head will definitely show through." She chuckled. Molly was a very nice girl, but being so loud and in-your-face people tended to see her as annoying and pushy. She would just shrug it off as best she could.

Molly's blue eyes widened for a moment. "Me?" She questioned, pointing to herself. She smiled, letting out a small laugh. "No. No, nothing like that. I'm not in love and if I am, I am fully unaware of it." She shrugged as she took another sip of her butterbeer. Was she in love? No, she was not aware of feeling like that for anyone around her - not in a romantic way anyway. Perhaps she was too picky. She honestly needed to work on that.

[annnnd. now I'm going to bed. Gotta get up early in the morning for class. Night! <3]

Tony cupped the mug of butterbeer in his hands, letting it slowly warm him up as houseelves scurried to take away his now empty plate of food. He had always felt so odd about letting the houseelves do so much for him when he was a younger-year, but these days he simply satisfied himself with the belief that Dumbledore probably paid them or supplied them with living arrangements or something. Still, it was always an odd feeling to be in the kitchens...

He smiled as she insisted she was big-headed, though he covered his mouth with the rim of his butterbeer glass until she finished. Didn't want to seem as if he were laughing at her. "Annoying and pushy people don't often warn people they are annoying and pushy," Tony said once she finished, "But I guess I'll have to wait to see how big I find your head." He smiled, to be sure she knew he meant it as a joke, though he already thought it sounded sort of odd the moment it came out of his mouth. Damn.

"Well at least that's better!" He could clearly remember the two years he spent pining away after Billy before either of them admitted they liked the other. "Unrequited love is almost worse than no love at all. And just because you haven't found someone now doesn't mean you won't eventually." Even as it came out of his mouth it sounded stupid and corny and his face started to bloom bright red. His toes curled at the awkward feeling left in the air and he tried drinking a few gulps of butterbeer, but it only made his face run hotter.

Molly took another gulp of her warm butterbeer. Really, there was nothing better after a day in the rain. She wasn't even very cold anymore, despite being in shorts and a tee-shirt. Not that the kitchens were very cold anyway, but the butterbeer definitely helped tenfold. Moll stretched out over the table, her arms just reaching the other side - darn her short little arms.

Molly snorted, resting her elbows on the table and placing her head in her hands. Yes, perhaps annoying and pushy people often were not aware or warned others that they were annoying and pushy. Perhaps someone had just opened her eyes to it, making her a little self conscious of it. Now, maybe, she was a little too much aware of it. "Oh, trust me, it's actually quite huge," Molly grinned, chuckling all the while.

Molly smiled softly; her dimples showing just slightly. Unrequited love sounded painful, to be honest. She had suffered a few unrequited crushes when she was much younger, but that was hardly as painful as it would be suffering it at this age. Molly snorted as Tony's face turned bright red. "Well," she chuckled, "aren't you just sweet." If she had been close enough, she would have reached out and pinched his cheeks - because that was just the sort of thing that she does from time to time - however, she was not close enough to reach him and therefore held back.

"Yes, I suppose one day it will happen... for any unfortunate bloke who can put up with me," she laughed before bringing her mug to her lips once more and taking another sip of her butterbeer.

Tony relaxed as Molly seemed to find his little speeches more endearing than stupid--though he couldn't quite agree himself. The kitchen around them began to quiet down as the last of the evenings meals were prepared. Having had such a late snack, he wasn't quite sure he was motivated enough to go to supper anymore, and as he reached the last few sips of his butterbeer, he debated simply leaving and going back to studying. Though he didn't quite want to do that, either.

"Yes, I suppose one day it will happen... for any unfortunate bloke who can put up with me."

Tony frowned, rather upset that he'd been the one to bring up relationships and boyfriends and set her up to be so down and depressed on herself. She'd been so bubbly and excitable when they'd first sat down, and now she seemed so closed off.

Gulping down the last dregs of his butterbeer, he let it settle, warm and protective around the little ball of confidence he pulled together. He let it sit and simmer, but spoke up before the warmth and comfort left him completely. "Molly, do you like music?" he suddenly asked, fingers tightening around his mug as he struggled to maintain eye contact. "It's just, whenever I feel sad or unhappy I like to play music and since I've made you unhappy, I just thought..." I just thought I could play some music for you.

Molly tilted her head to the side, her eyebrows knitting together as she placed the mug back down on the table. He was asking her if she liked music? How very odd, she couldn't help but think. Yes, she supposed she liked music, as most people did. She didn't play or anything... she used to take piano lessons when she was younger, and she had enjoyed singing and dancing as well, but that seemed like so very long ago. It was one of the smaller things that changed about her after her parents died. She enjoyed music so much, but never did anything with it herself.

Molly offered him a small smile, thinking it very sweet of him to do something like that. "Yes," she finally said, "I do quite enjoy music... though, don't fret, you hardly made me unhappy." She glanced down, her smile still present on her face. Yes, perhaps talking about relationships hadn't particularly made her the happiest person in the world, but they didn't upset her completely either.

Molly glanced back at him. He thought what? She calculated in her mind for a moment. He played music. He liked to when he was unhappy. If she was unhappy...? Did he want to play something for her? She would actually really enjoy that. "What do you play?" She questioned, her head tilting to the side once more.

Molly Starkey looked a million times brighter when she smiled, and Tony felt himself smiling along whenever she seemed to stumble upon a happy little memory or tidbit or fact. "Don't fret, you hardly make me unhappy." "I still prefer you smiling, though. It suits you," he managed, with uncharacteristic confidence.

At the question, Tony leaned back in his seat just trying to do a quick mental estimate of the number of instruments he knew. "Four...five...seven," he murmured, number growing ever higher. "Quite a lot," he decided on, eventually. "I mean I better at some than others--my favorites are guitar, piano, and trumpet--but I know a lot of different instruments. They're sort of my hobby." His voice trailed and his hands dropped into his pockets as his face fought between an enthused, passionate smile and a goofy, embarrassed one.

His mothers had always pushed for Tony to have creative outlets growing up, especially when he didn't fit in with the other children his age and seemed to have certain social anxieties. Painting had been fun and writing had it's own perks, but he'd never had a good eye for shape and color and he couldn't seem to manage his thoughts into words, they just sat in his head, pressing down upon him. And then he'd taken his first piano lesson, and by his third was already beginning to improvise on the keys when he hit emotional blocks. Yes, music had been his perfect outlet.

Molly smiled once more, trying not to let the smallest blush appear on her face. Merlin's pants, why did he have to be gay? He was probably one of the sweetest guys she ran across so far. Oh well, c'est la vie, as the French always said.

Molly's jaw dropped rather visibly, blinking in shock. He really played that many instruments? That was... well, that was insanity! Molly could barely even play one. "Wow," Molly held her hands up for a moment in awe. "That's just... that's amazing really. " She let out a snort. "Oh, yes, I can definitely see that. It's really crazy, but in a good way, I mean. Do you compose your own stuff or...?" She trailed off, waving her hand about slightly. If he wrote his own music, her mind would only be further blown.

It was truly amazing, especially for one so young. All Molly really could do was fly skillfully on a broomstick... and act, but acting was just lying and reciting lines. It wasn't like creating your own masterpieces. People who did things like that always impressed her.